Prunella Scales

    Known For

    Acting

    Birthday

    June 22, 1932

    Day of Death

    October 27, 2025 (93 years old)

    Place of Birth

    Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England, UK

    Prunella Scales

    Biography

    Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales CBE (née Illingworth; 22 June 1932) was an English former actor, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty, wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy Fawlty Towers; for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in A Question of Attribution (Screen One, BBC 1991) by Alan Bennett (for which she was nominated for a BAFTA award); and for the documentary series Great Canal Journeys (2014–2021), in which she travels on canal barges and narrowboats with her husband, fellow actor Timothy West.

    Known For

    • Wolf

      Wolf

      1994

    • Fawlty Towers

      Fawlty Towers

      1975

    • Howards End

      Howards End

      1992

    • The Boys from Brazil

      The Boys from Brazil

      1978

    • Midsomer Murders

      Midsomer Murders

      1997

    • Hobson's Choice

      Hobson's Choice

      1954

    • Room at the Top

      Room at the Top

      1958

    • Agatha Christie's Marple

      Agatha Christie's Marple

      2004

    • Emma

      Emma

      1996

    • Silent Witness

      Silent Witness

      1996

    • Horrid Henry: The Movie

      Horrid Henry: The Movie

      2011

    • Casualty

      Casualty

      1986

    • The Phone Call

      The Phone Call

      2013

    • An Awfully Big Adventure

      An Awfully Big Adventure

      1995

    • Second Best

      Second Best

      1994